HASSAN'S A2 MEDIA STUDIES: STAR IMAGE: ZAYN JAVAAD MALIK.

My star image is Zayn Javaad Malik.

Starting at a very young age, Zayn Malik has had various hints of success from the very beginning. Over the years, we have seen Zayn develop, improve and impress in his career in the music industry. Having seen different versions of him, we are able to tell how he has matured in his life, from the start to present day. A theory of the "Star Image" was made by Richard Dyer. He states how the individual "celebrity" has changed overtime in terms of their appearance, how they are portrayed by the media , the news and especially from their music videos.

I will be concentrating and analysing Zayn Javaad Malik's life from the beginning of his life, all the way to his current situation.

Zayn Javaad Malik was born on January 12th, 1993. He was born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Zayn Malik had stated himself that he started to make pride in his appearance, and had studied a performing arts course, appearing in his school production as well. Having grown up listening to his fathers urban music records, (reggae, R&B, hip-hop) Zayn had started to write raps in his early school years, and also had the opportunity to sing
on stage infront of Jay Sean.

Zayn Malik had auditioned for the 7th series of The X factor in 2010, as a solo performer, but had then been unfortunately been eliminated from the show. He showed drive, passion and desire by appearing on The X Factor again, but this time with 4 other members. They called themselves "One Direction", and had a good image in their mind, as succeeding as the world's number 1 boy band. The group came in 3rd place in the competition, and had signed a contract with Cowell's Syco's music label., worth £2 Million GBP.

The public had seen Zayn's shy personality in first person, but Zayn's personality suited his style of singing, moreover than his appearance.

The One Direction band were very successful in the years 2012 and 20113. These 2 years were the highlight of the boy bands career. They had won the KCA's, AMA's and also the Billboard MA's. The entire world were absolutely in awe about how the group has excelled over years, and especially how attractive they are. Young teenage girls and young adults were their main audience, hence why Zayn was seen as a singer, songwriter and a model to the public eye. Zayn had attended many TV shows which had interviewed him about his career, and he had also appeared on TV award shows for kids.

During the early years of One Direction, it was no surprise that Zayn would surely use his fame to express his personal fashion statement. Zayn had created the "Zayn Quiff", which was a gold streak at the beginning of the front of the hair.

On the 25th of March, 2015, One Direction had decided to split up. This had left their fans completely and utterly heartbroken. Some would say that the real Zayn started to reveal himself as he was getting more tattoos on his body, started to smoke and drink occasionally and what was seen to be very evident, he had also attended less interviews and attendance at kids award shows after the rumours of the "split up of the boy band" were spreading all over the Internet. The entire world could could see that Zayn was beginning to feel more in his comfort zone, as soon as he left One Direction.

After the world was aware that Zayn had left One Direction, Zayn was seen as a free individual with no responsibilities from the group whatsoever. Whilst he was with One Direction, smoking, drinking, dyeing hair colour, dressing lower than the bands standards, growing a beard were all a forbidden act, as they would ruin the appearance of the band. However, as Zayn left, he had broken every one of these rules and had also started getting more tattoos. As he was now an individual artist, only the simple one on one interviews were seen on TV. Also, in one of his interviews he had stated that after leaving the boy band, he was able to do all the things that were prohibited and was also able to show the world who the real Zayn is inside of him. He really expressed himself freely after leaving the
boy band.

In January 2016, he had released his first single, which was called "PillowTalk". This song had made him the first UK artist to debut at number one on the Hot 100 with a first charted single. Now that he is a solo artist, his music describes him in a better light. He now swears in his music videos, as well as adopting a more rough look. Tattoos, drugs, sex and drinking are now the highlights of his music which separate him form the previous version of him. Also, he prefers to be called just "Zayn", rather than "Zayn Malik". He also released "Like I Would" and "Mind Of Mine", which were also a great hit. He also released another song called "Still Got Time", which was a collaboration with the PartyNextDoor.

Zayn was dating Perrie Edwards from Little Mix in 2012, but from 2015 until the present day, he has been dating Gigi Hadid since then. She was also in his pillowtalk music video.

Zayn had taken his fashion career a step further by releasing his own shoreline with Giuseppe Zanotti, who is an Italian footwear designer.

Overall, we can see that Zayn is able to interact more with his audience more freely than he had been when he was with One Direction. He is more comfortable with his skin, body, performance, career choice and attitude towards his work. He has also changed the appearance of his song cover album, as they represent him and his personality on life after leaving One Direction. Zayn feels more like himself after leaving One Direction, as he has no limits, no obstruction and also gets to be the boss of his own life.